His Little Secret by Aubree Valentine

 

Prologue

Brooke

Only I would oversleep on my first day of classes.

With no time to shower or wash my hair, I toss on a pair of black leggings, my favorite hoodie and pull my hair up in a messy bun.

If I jog, I may make it across campus to English 208 before I’m officially late.

I grab my bookbag and toss in a granola bar and a bottle of water, slip on my purple Chucks and then I’m out the door.

Out of breath and feeling like my legs are going to snap, I pause outside of the English building to grab my breath. I made it, with five minutes to spare and a solid memory of why I never joined the track team.

The cool air inside the building is like heaven as I wander down the hall until I find the correct room.

When I open the door, my entire body begins to hum. I immediately blame it on all the running I just did and lack of oxygen to my brain until I see the man standing at the front of the room. There is no way that this guy is our professor.

One quick glance at the schedule in my hands lists Teacher’s Assistant Keegan Fuller as the educator assigned to English 208.

Tall. Blonde hair. Ice blue eyes and just enough facial hair to make my toes curl. Holy sex on a stick.

Since we don’t have assigned seats, I grab a spot front and center. This class should be a cake walk, ogling the TA is an added bonus.

Before class starts, I send off a quick test to my bestie back home along with a super stealth picture of “Professor McEnglish”.

Best Bitch: Oh hell. You should tap that.

I laugh at her reply.

“Something funny, Miss…?”

“Brooke Lansing. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“I hope you’ll find the will power to put your phone away during class.”

A quick look at the time reveals that I still have a whole sixty seconds until class begins. Half of the students aren’t even here yet.

“I have a minute left. Then you have my undivided attention,” I give him a flirty wink before replying to Morgan.

Me: Did I mention he smells delish? I just caught a passing whiff of his cologne. Def something expensive. Oh and, he’s got the whole authority thing down. This semester is going to be a blast!

Brooke

I’ve never considered myself to be desperate. I don’t have a habit of chasing guys or begging for anyone’s attention.

Keegan? He’s different.

And he’s avoiding me. Like the plague, I might add.

The thing is, I can’t ignore the current between us. Every single time I walk into English 208. Every time I see him in the hallway or spot him off-campus, there’s a spark. Something unexplainable.

I know he feels it, too.

The way his eyes lock with mine and the way he licks his lips as if he’s the big bad wolf and I am dressed in a red hood.

Call me a creeper, I deserve it, but I haven’t missed how his trousers always seem to tighten and the nice uh...bulge that makes an appearance whenever he looks at me. Honestly? It’s kind of hard not to notice.

After weeks of trying to casually capture his attention for more than a handful of seconds, I find myself standing outside the tiny closet Thackery College refers to as an office. The same one with Keegan Fuller’s name on the door.

Remember how I said, I’m not typically the desperate type?

Consider this a last-ditch effort to lay it all out on the line and shoot my shot with the teacher’s assistant.

Yes, I set up an appointment during Keegan’s office hours requesting some study help. Help that I damn well don’t need.

With one more deep breath, I smooth my hands over my shirt and knock on the door.

Keegan’s gruff voice sends a tingle down my spine when he invites me in.

“Brooke,” he nods, clicks a few buttons on his laptop and encourages me to take a seat. “What can I help you with?”

Keegan isn’t stupid, neither am I. I’m pretty sure he knows that I don’t actually need help with course work.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” I reply bluntly.

“Hm. Avoiding you how, exactly, Miss Lansing?”

“Come on, Keegan. Cut the crap. We invited you out to pizza with us as a group, you turned us down. Any time you spot me outside of class, you practically run in the opposite direction. And if I do happen to cross your path, you act like you can’t wait to get away from me. To be honest, I’m surprised you didn’t cancel this appointment.”

“Miss Lansing…”

“It’s Brooke. My name is Brooke.” I’ll be damn if I let him try for formalities to keep the distance between us.

“Like I said, Miss Lansing, I chose not to cancel this appointment because I was led to believe that it was course related and that you needed assistance. Had I known you had ulterior motives, you would not be in my office right now.”

“Keegan, I know that you’re probably thinking I’m some slutty co-ed trying to sleep her way through this semester, but I can promise you that’s not the case. Not at all. There’s this magnetic pull between us, I know it and I am pretty sure you know it too.”

“We shouldn’t be having this conversation. Especially not here.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not like I didn’t try to have this conversation with you elsewhere but again, you kept avoiding me.”

“Brooke, this is inappropriate. Even if I could feel the attraction to you, it’s still unprofessional and wrong on so many levels.”

“So, you do feel the attraction?”

Keegan tosses his black framed glasses on to his desk and sighs, “Yes. There. Are you happy now? Did you get what you came here for? I am attracted to you. In more ways than one. I’ve felt something, some kind of spark, from the moment you walked into my class.”

His confession boosts my confidence that was beginning to waiver. Standing up, I walk around his desk and take the biggest risk of my life.

I kiss Keegan Fuller like my life depends on it.

At first, he remains completely still, showing no reaction whatsoever. But it only takes a second before his resolve breaks. He tugs me onto his lap and his hands tangle in my hair as he kisses me back with the very same fever.

I knew kissing Keegan would be everything I ever imagined and then some. I wasn’t wrong. His kiss is powerful. Mind blowing. And enough to send a girl head over heels in love.

All too soon Keegan puts the breaks on our breathtaking kiss and pulls away from me.

“Not here. We can’t do this here,” he mumbles and I’m not sure if it’s me he’s trying to convince or himself. With gentle hands, he eases me off of his lap and his very hard erection. “We have to get out of here. You go first. I’ll lock up. We can meet at my apartment. It’s off-campus and my roommate isn’t home tonight. Do you think you can do that?” There’s the slightest sense of urgency in his voice.

Mentally, I’m jumping for joy. “Yes. Of course. What’s the address?”

Keegan quickly jots down his address on the back of one of his cards and hands it to me. “Please, try to be as discrete as possible when you walk out of here. You look like you’ve been kissed senseless,” he adds with a smirk.

“Maybe that’s because I have,” I grin back at him.

“Go. I’ll meet you there, soon.”

I run a hand through my hair and try my best to calm my racing heart as I leave his office with his address tucked into my pocket.